Capital Equipment News November 2016

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS

FAW’S 2 000 TH TRUCK MILESTONE IN JUST TWO YEARS

APC provides turnkey solution to Intermodal Cargo Solutions

SENSOR SOLUTIONS FOR SHUTTLE SYSTEMS IN INTRALOGISTICS Operators in the field of intralogistics are under pressure to achieve greater throughput, while remaining agile and flexible. And this calls for more efficient utilisation of space, as well as more sustainable use of resources, including shuttle solutions. This, in turn, places higher demand on the growing requirements for small but still powerful sensor solutions and automation components. Leuze offers high-end solutions with ap- plication know-how in all areas of intralogis- tics, and the significant advantage of this is that the solution is from a single source. One mega trend in intralogistics, which can be attributed to the rapidly developing e-com- merce sector, is the volatility of markets and competitive conditions. On the one hand, there are increasing volumes of parcels that need to be shipped. This results in increased order picking and associated processing. And on the other hand, smaller orders cause growing uncertainty for the manufacturer and this impacts on forward planning. As a result, procurement, production and distribu- tion become considerably more complex. Intermodal Cargo Solutions had been in talks with one of APC Storage Solutions SA’s competitors and required an additional service provider to propose and quote on a similar solution. APC Storage Solutions SA was approached and took time to understand all the client’s needs, including facility lay- out, load units, pick rates and throughputs, to mention a few. The fact that Intermodal was dealing with various companies, each able to provide only a part of the overall re- quired solution, counted substantially in APC Storage Solutions SA’s favour, as it was in a position to manage the entire project. With this information at hand, the team submitted a design to meet the client’s requirements, which led to the contract being awarded to APC Storage Solutions SA. Approximately 110 containers are received Africa’s leading warehouse storage solutions company, APC Storage Solutions SA, completed the installation of a turnkey system for Customs Franchised Container Freight Station Company, Intermodal Cargo Solutions. The contract to supply a pallet shuttle system was awarded against a number of competitors due to its numerous benefits and a design to aid the client develop a final solution. This included a sprinkler system, for which one of APC Storage Solutions SA’s business partners was used.

This scenario makes innovation topics such as Industry 4.0 ever more important for intralogistics, and increases the need to cre- ate integrated networking and transparency as well as to constantly improve speeds, precision, flexibility and availabilities. The growing demands that all intralogistics applications place on sensors are particu- larly evident in modern shuttle solutions. Shuttles are extremely flexible, dynamic and, not least, also resource-friendly with regard to space utilisation and energy con- sumption. For such systems, reliable, space saving sensors are needed for fine positioning, for the detection of free spaces, presence mon- itoring and for collision prevention. For all these tasks, Leuze offers suitable solutions that ensure availability and can be easily and quickly mounted and commissioned. Whether organic surfaces such as wood, metal or plastics, and whether matt, deep black or glossy, the Leuze ODS 10 and HT 10 optical distance sensors offer a constant switching point. These sensors function APC Storage Solutions SA provided the first block of 30 m wide, five levels high and 68 pallets deep; and another block of 10 m wide, four levels high and 20 pallets deep, coupled with a world-class Wi-Fi ra- dio pallet shuttle system operating on the FIFO principle. The installed pallet shuttle system is designed to prevent or minimise damage to racking units, to best control FIFO and batch receive and dispatch oper- ations. It also boosts pallet load and unload rates, and therefore throughput rates. The pallet shuttles moves along special rails at- tached to the racking, eliminating the need for aisles as storing and extracting pallets is achieved via remote control using WiFi-en- abled tablets. b by Intermodal fortnightly and 5 500 pallets dispatched, resulting in total warehouse turnaround every two weeks. “Our proposed solution meant that we needed to take the standard operating procedures, business rules and active target rate of receiving and dispatch into consideration, as well as re- ceiving and dispatch door locations. This was necessary to allow the customer to optimally plan for pick and replenishment waves with- out negatively impacting on the warehouse flows,” says Ettienne Meyburgh, general manager – KZN Region & Automation, APC Storage Solutions SA.

Having started production in July 2014, last month FAW Vehicle Manufacturers South Africa celebrated the company’s 2 000 th truck to roll off the production line at its Coega, Eastern Cape plant. Jianyu Hao, CEO of FAW SA, gives credit for the achievements of the company to the employees. “With such a large workforce, our aim has been to keep the manufacturing logistics simple, yet thoroughly in line with strict built standards as well as safety, health and environmental regulations. Thanks to a disciplined and dedicated workforce, we have maintained our standards and have even received an international FAW award in recognition for our outstanding quality.” Within a relatively short period since opening the US$ 60 million Coega plant, FAW Vehicle Manufacturers South Africa reports growing returns, despite the sluggish markets. “This is mostly evident in the steady advance in the number of exports, with local customers’ confidence increasing in the FAW brand.”The results affirm the initial trust and commitment made by the Chinese truckmaker. The company believes that its success has, to some extent, spearheaded other Chinese goods manufacturers to invest and expand their operations to South Africa. “FAW SA is resolute in having chosen South Africa as its base for the southern African region,” says Hao. “We have become a proud business citizen of South Africa and positively affirm our original assessment of SA with the motto – Built in South Africa, for Africa.” Adjacent to its vehicle manufacturing plant, FAW has made a further multi-million Rand investment in a truck body-building facility which includes a fully-fledged paint shop. The company reports that sales of FAW trucks have tracked strong upward growth year-on- year over the past few years (2013 to 2016). To date, the FAW medium-weight 8.140FL range is ranked second in the 5 t truck segment. This after only one year on the market. b FAW Vehicle Manufacturers South Africa has celebrated the production of its 2 000 th truck at its Coega plant.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS NOVEMBER 2016 34